African Development Bank Group Senior Vice President Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala (6th from left) and Head of JPMorgan Delegation Masha Gloukhovski (5th from left).
Abidjan, Ivory Coast, April 5, 2024 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/-The Senior Vice-President of the African Development Bank Group, Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala received in audience, Friday March 22, 2024 in Abidjan, a delegation from the American investment bank JP Morgan Chase, who came to discuss possible partnerships with the main development financing institution in Africa.
Led by Masha Gloukhovski, Global Head of Public Sector, the delegation included Olivier Eweck, Head of JP Morgan’s Public Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, Gabriel Syed, Managing Director for Emerging Markets, Sjoerd Leenart, Global Head of Corporate Banking. The delegation said JP Morgan Chase was “very keen” to work with the Bank Group in the areas of trade and the private sector and to participate in project finance operations.
“We are also very interested in providing financing as much as possible in local currency in the long term if we have the guarantee from the Bank,” said Olivier Eweck. JP Morgan has worked and is already working with the Bank in the capital markets and above all wishes to benefit from the Bank’s investment guarantee system, which can go up to 100%.
Ms. Tshabalala presented the Bank and its regional and global challenges in the context of collaboration with other development financing institutions and the fight against climate change. In addition to the African Development Bank which provides services to middle-income countries, the African Development Fund provides primarily concessional financing to low-income and transition countries. And among all multilateral development banks, the African Development Bank is the only one to combine sovereign and non-sovereign operations for the private sector.
Senior Vice President of the African Development Bank Group, Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala presented the Bank and its regional and global challenges.
The Bank, continued Ms. Tshabalala, has just adopted its new ten-year strategy which aims to accelerate growth and development that is inclusive and resilient to climate change and intends to strengthen the partnership with multilateral development banks which are asked to be ” better, broader and more efficient.
While welcoming JP Morgan’s desire to invest more in Africa, she assured that the Bank is ready to strengthen the partnership with this investment bank provided that the actions do not create “systemic risks” relating only to the one or other of the institutions. One of the Bank’s major objectives is to mobilize private sector financing for Africa’s development, she added.
Max Magor Ndiaye, director of the Department of Syndication, Co-financing and Client Solutions, hoped that JP Morgan and others would accompany the Bank in ADF countries (eligible for African Development Fund criteria) and in “certain difficult countries such as States in transition” including in blended or local currency financing.
Ms. Tshabalala questioned JP Morgan on the categorical refusal of certain investment banks to share risks when ANDStates respect the rules and despite everything, suffer the consequences of exogenous problems such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
“JP Morgan has its own approach, and we are here to stay. If our work has an impact in times of prosperity, it is particularly important in difficult times, replied Olivier Eweck. We are in it for the long term. And if you want to be here in 100 years, you will never have such behavior from JP Morgan,” Mr. Eweck continued.
“We are a for-profit institution. So it’s a challenge for us. And we need better coverage. So we need to take a holistic approach,” said Masha Gloukhovsky.
“The future is really positive for Africa and (…) I think you are making a very good strategic decision to be in Africa at this time, because the future belongs to Africa. The demand for capital market solutions is increasing,” said Ahmed Rashad Attout, Acting Director of the Financial Sector Development Department, who has collaborated with JP Morgan on some of the Bank’s capital market operations.
Valerie Dabady, head of division at the Department of Resource Mobilization, Partnerships and External Financing, indicated that the African Development Fund, which obtained a record replenishment of its resources to the tune of $8.9 billion, was authorized to go to the capital market to raise additional financing, which means it will have to be rated, she explained.
She stressed that the Bank provides new donors with knowledge of the region. “And if you are looking to establish yourself in Africa, we are a competent and necessary partner for you,” she said. She added that JP Morgan can also work with the Bank through its numerous trust funds.
Recalling that multilateral banks are turning to innovation, Omar Sefiani, acting director of the Treasury Department, called on international investment banks to adopt a long-term vision on the continent.
Nana-Efua Spio-Garbrah, Head of the Financial Technical Services Division, invited JP Morgan to participate in the next African Investissement Forum scheduled for December in Rabat, Morocco, which brings together investors projects and investors for transactions. The invitation was enthusiastically accepted by the JP Morgan delegation.
In addition to the senior officials already mentioned, Ms. Tshabalala was also surrounded by Karine Nadège Gondjout (senior investment manager), Akane Zoukpo Sanankoua (investment manager, Financial Sector Development Department), among others.
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) for the African Development Bank.
Source : African Media Agency (AMA)